Falls Church, Virginia –
Johnny Depp called his ex-wife’s allegations of sexual and physical violence “crazy” on Wednesday when he returned to the witness stand in his defamation case against Amber Heard.
“Ridiculous, humiliating, ridiculous, painful, wild, incredibly brutal, cruel and all false,” Depp said when asked about his reaction to hearing Hurd’s allegations when she testified earlier in the trial.
Depp testified on Wednesday as a rebuttal witness – both he and Hurd testified in detail earlier in the trial.
He gave some concrete answers to some of the specific allegations made by Hurd, as well as by her sister Whitney Henriques, who provided some of Hurd’s strongest corroborating testimony.
He ended his testimony with a final denial of the charges.
“I have never in my life committed sexual violence, physical violence, all these strange, scandalous stories about having done these things,” he said. “And I’ve been living with it for six years, waiting to be able to get the truth out.”
He said that “whatever happened, I came here and told the truth and talked about what I carry on my back, reluctantly for six years.”
During cross-examination, jurors saw text messages from Depp’s phone to his assistant in which he used vulgar terms to refer to the woman’s genitals and said, “I SHOULD. I WANT. TAKE.”
When Hurd’s lawyers asked if the text message indicated that Depp believed he could claim ownership of a woman he wanted, Depp denied that he had written the message.
“I don’t have that kind of arrogance,” he said, suggesting that the text was forged or that someone might have taken his phone. “It’s pretty grotesque.”
Depp is suing Hurd in Fairfax County Court for a December 2018 post she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as a “public figure representing domestic violence.” His lawyers say he was slandered by the article, although his name is never mentioned.
Depp denies hitting Hurd and says she was the bully in the relationship. Hurd has testified to more than a dozen individual cases of physical violence she says she suffered at the hands of Depp.
Depp also disputed Hurd’s claim that Depp had nothing to do with her role in the superhero blockbuster Aquaman. When Hurd testified, she was apparently offended by a question from Depp’s lawyers, who suggested that Depp had been given the role.
However, Depp said that after Hurd auditioned for the role, he spoke to the studio on her behalf. He was barred from discussing the details of his conversations when Hurd’s lawyers objected, but said “she finally got the job, so I hope I’ve overcome some of their concerns.”
However, in cross-examination, jurors saw a text message sent after Hurd filed for divorce, in which Depp told his sister, “I want her replaced in this WB movie (Warner Bros.).
And yet, when Hurd’s lawyer, J. Benjamin Rothenborn, Depp asked if he had tried to fire Hurd from Aquaman, he denied. Instead, he said he just felt obligated to let the studio know “it would end ugly” if they kept Hurd in the movie.
Also Wednesday, supermodel Kate Moss, Depp’s ex-girlfriend, denied ever being pressured or attacked by Depp during their relationship.
Moss also testified as a witness to the rebuttal. In his testimony, Hurd cites Moss and the rumor that Depp pushed Moss down the stairs when they met.
Moss, in testimony provided via video link, said Depp had never attacked her. She said she once went downstairs after a rainstorm at a Jamaican resort and that Depp came to her aid.
She testified in less than 5 minutes and was not cross-examined.
Depp also addressed the indictment in his testimony, saying it happened exactly as Moss said. He said he told the story of Moss to Heard years ago and “Ms. Hurd took the story and turned it into a very ugly incident, all in her mind.
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